The present invention relates to an enhanced bezel intended for use with a currency or bill acceptor which is to be incorporated into an electronic gaming machine, vending machine, point of sale devices and similar host machines.
Bill acceptors are now in widespread use in host machines such as gaming machines, vending machines and point of sale devices. Bill acceptors receive paper currency or notes and, using a validator having both hardware and software components, the received currency or note is scanned with a variety of sensors. The sensor information is analyzed to determine authenticity and denomination of the currency or note. If the note is determined to be authentic, e.g. a United States $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 bill or other legal tender, the note is transported to a cash box within the bill acceptor for storage. Further, based upon the denomination of the accepted currency or note, a signal is sent from the validator to the host machine""s controller or processor to cause the host machine to credit or accumulate a corresponding amount within the machine""s credit meter representing the cash value available for purchasing products or wagering. Bill acceptors of this type are known and are discussed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,039 issued Jan. 26, 1999 to Suzuki.
The use of bill acceptors has given rise to a problem associated with users who believe that they have inserted a bill having a higher value than what the machine provides as credits. For example, the user may believe that he or she has inserted a twenty dollar bill while the machine only provides ten dollars in credit. This problem generally requires the attention of an attendant who may be required to open the machine to show the user the last bill inserted to resolve the dispute. Alternatively, the attendant may have to place the machine into a xe2x80x9cdiagnostic modexe2x80x9d to allow extraction of the information on the correct denomination of the last inserted bill. These types of activities are both labor intensive and inefficient as the machine is taken out of operation until the issue is resolved.
A bill acceptor generally has a rectangular slot where the note or currency is to be inserted. The location of the rectangular slot may be readily identified by a bezel which, in the context of gaming machines, vending machines or the like, is a structure projecting from the front portion of the bill acceptor below the intake slot. The use of bezels in the gaming machine industry has been limited to providing passive functions. For example, it is known to have bezels with several light emitting devices (LEDs) arranged to flash in a runway sequence to attract the patron""s attention and identify where the note is to be inserted. It is also known that bezels with different color LEDs, i.e. green and red, are available to provide an indication of whether the bill acceptor is operational. The status information available from these bezels is, however, very limited, i.e. whether the bill acceptor of the machine is enabled or disabled, and it does not provide any other functional utility.
The present invention is generally directed to a note or bill acceptor, and-more particularly, to an enhanced bezel positioned at or near the intake slot of the bill acceptor. The enhanced bezel is adapted to display detailed information about the status of the bill acceptor, and other information related to its operation.
The enhanced bezel of the present invention employs multiple indicators to visually display information. For example, the enhanced bezel may include indicators to display error conditions such as xe2x80x9cnote box fullxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctransport path jammedxe2x80x9d conditions, and other information useful for maintenance and diagnostic purposes. Additional visual indicators may display set up information, such as which denominations the bill validator of the machine is programmed to accept, display prompts or instructions to assist the player, such as a display of the denomination of the last bill accepted, or even simple decorative patterns.
More specifically, the enhanced bezel may include a display area to provide a visual display of information about the bills, vouchers, script and/or currency (hereinafter, collectively xe2x80x9cnotesxe2x80x9d) accepted by the bill acceptor. For example, the display may have a visual depiction or back-lighted display to show if the received bill has a $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 denomination. The display is connected to the bill acceptor""s processor which receives information from the note validator which senses the authenticity, denomination, amount and type of the note passing through the bill acceptor and which issues a signal corresponding to the note type to the bill acceptor processor and the host machine""s processor for accumulation of credits. The same information can be used to control the display on the enhanced bezel.
Further, the bill acceptor will include a note box provided to receive deposited notes and a transport assembly for transporting notes accepted through the note validator to the note box. The bill acceptor processor controls the transport assembly to direct notes received through the note validator to the note box and detects any interference with the operation of the bill acceptor. The bill acceptor""s processor also keeps track of the number of bills sent to the note box for retention. Thus, by connecting the processor to the enhanced bezel, additional status information, such as a jammed transport path or full note box may be visually displayed by the enhanced bezel.
The enhanced bezel display system of the present invention thus provides an easy method of interacting with the user of the machine to provide a verification of the denomination of received notes. The enhanced bezel display system of the present invention also enables the attendant of the machine to quickly retrieve information regarding various operations, including the status of the bill acceptor, without having to interrupt the use of the machine.